


Gone, Steven, Gone

by Agent66



Series: War of the Worlds [6]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Episode: s04e24 I Am My Mom, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Rescue Missions, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-12-30 14:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12110841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent66/pseuds/Agent66
Summary: After the events of 'I Am My Mom', the Crystal Gems are left with one pressing question - how will they get Steven Universe back?





	1. Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings, SU AO3 readers! Thank you so much for joining me for the official start of what I call the War of the Worlds serial. This story is what started the whole thing and the reason we have this serial. Got a lot of admin stuff, so hang tight.
> 
> This story (and thus, this serial) actually came to be after the Steven's Dream arc, with this story being about our titular hero being taken from Earth to Homeworld. Needless to say, I Am My Mom came out, so this story changed to actually be the aftermath of that episode, with the headcanon that Gems would be hard at work working on a way to get him back. And then we got the Wanted arc with the ending to Lars' Head. LOL
> 
> But I liked the stories I had, so for a first time, I decided to do an AU for a show that was currently in production. So for spoilers sake, seasons 1 through 4 are in effect here. There are also five stories in this serial that you could skip over, but you'll miss some character development and the lead in from last story to IAMM, which leads to this. However, from here and the next five stories, you'll need to read in order if you don't want to be lost. 
> 
> Beginning with this fic, you'll be entering into a Season 5 AU, with this story being the aftermath of I Am My Mom. We're in canon through that episode, but the Wanted arc will be different for one big reason - Lars isn't with Steven when he gets taken. I know, I know, but as mentioned this idea was well before we all thought Lars was going to go through some big character development. BUT this doesn't mean I'll forget about him or the Off-Colors. If an episode comes about that I can fit into this AU and still be within canon, I will go for it. Cause come on...space pirate Lars, amiright?
> 
> Last but not least, THANK YOU for everyone who has been reading this series and continuing on to the end. And a thank you for anyone just joining in. As an author, it means so much to me that readers are enjoying these stories, especially fans of the show we all love. So sit back and welcome to the thunder dome! Your ride starts in 3...2....1!

The night was incredibly quiet.

Even Rehoboth Bay, which was usually active with a few waves or splashing citizens, had gone silent. There were no seagulls still hanging about, not even people trying to see if Funland was open.

The sky, which was vibrant with the colors of dusk, had gone silent as well.

Time seemed to be standing still, even stopped as far as anyone who mattered was concerned. Earlier events that had seemed unconnected, spontaneous, had come together that night, stitched like a grotesque creature, and as such that creature had turned violent and ugly, attacking everyone and anyone in its path.

The last ten minutes were a nightmare that no one could wake up from. Despite being in the frigid waters of the bay, Connie Maheswaran didn’t feel any of it; she didn’t even know when she had started crying – was it during or after they watched the tiny ship disappear in a blink of light? The silence was broken when the sounds of splashing could be heard behind her and suddenly, she could hear everything around her.

“We have to get out of the water.”

Sadie Miller, having no to very small amounts of interaction with the beings known as the Crystal Gems, felt like she was having some sort of out of body experience. She knew Steven was a special kid, living with the Gems and all – everyone in Beach City knew that – but she had no idea that…well, other aliens would want to kidnap anyone, especially not her.

And definitely not Steven.

That wasn’t to say this was a normal, everyday occurrence; the blonde could see that on the very faces of his family and best friend. The term ‘lost at sea’ seemed to immediately pop in her, but for a completely different reason that wasn’t tied to the nautical term. They looked completely sidelined by the events and would probably just continue floating in the bay, looking up at the sky.

Lars Barriga, who had been floating next to her, immediately turned and began to swim back to the deck. Sadie didn’t have the strength or mental capacity to talk to the teenager, not now, not tomorrow, who knew when she’d be able to look him in the face again. That familiar feeling of hurt she always got with Lars was bubbling up within her, but she quickly stomped it down.

There were more important things than Lars right now.

“Guys,” she tried again. “We need to get out of the water.”

This time, she managed to get one of the gems – the purple one known as Amethyst – to respond, her head turning slightly to acknowledge they weren’t the only ones in the water. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Right.” Bringing herself to the present danger involved in just sitting in water, Amethyst nodded, her hand reaching out to the teen girl next to her. “Connie, come on. We gotta get out of here.”

Connie barely acknowledged the gem, her eyes still lingering on the spot she last saw him, last spoke to him. What was the point of getting out of the bay when they had just lost _everything_?

The movement of Amethyst seemed to spur on movement from Garnet, who floated next to her. Every ounce of her being was trying to hold herself together, every instinct to fall apart so clear in her mind; she couldn’t fall apart. Not now, later maybe, but not now and not here. Getting a hold of herself, she reached out to the thin gem before her, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“Pearl.”

Pearl gave a startled sob at the touch, before covering her mouth with her hand to try and stop herself.

For her part, Amethyst could see the dock in the distance and knew it would be a long swim back. Thinking quickly, she shapeshifted herself into a small speedboat, with her face displayed on the front. “Hope aboard,” she instructed, her normal jovial tone flat as the two girls and the two gems climbed inside. Speeding off towards the dock, the purple gem managed to splash the thin teenaged figure of Lars as he lazily made his back before stopping in front of the ladder that hung over the side.

Jamie the mailman was halfway up the ladder when the speedboat pulled up, causing him to look over his shoulder. Seeing the gems seemed to put some fire in his steps because he quickened his pace up the ladder until he reached the dock proper.

Other than Sadie, the others went through the motions of climbing up the ladder and standing awkwardly on the wooden planks. Sadie debated about waiting for Lars, but shook her head against it; she didn’t want to deal with him after all. Jamie stood some ways away, meeting her look when she glanced at him.

Looking back at the sullen quartet, Sadie opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to think of something to say, however every question she could ask seemed…well, rather stupid and basic. “Do you guys need anything?” she asked the group, wincing at the very harshness of the question.

Of _course_ they needed something and that something was Steven or at very least, some sort of time travel device to go back in time.

Amethyst shook her head. “No.” As if thinking of something, she quietly stated, “We got to get Connie home.”

Garnet nodded, slowly. “We can get Greg to give her a ride,” she said.

At the mention of Greg’s name, Pearl suddenly gasped. “Oh no, Greg,” she grunted. “How’re we going to tell him about…?” Saying _his_ name was too painful, the events of earlier still too raw to even process. And they would need to be the ones to recount everything to the boy’s father.

“He’s going to kill us,” Amethyst moaned, running a shaky hand through her hair. “He was barely onboard with Steven coming to live with us, there’s no way he’ll be…he’s already been kidnapped! He’s gonna kill us.”

“Regardless,” the fusion interrupted. “We have to tell him. He has to know.” The confident air the leader usually held was shattered, her voice as listless as the others. With everything happening, not one of them had thought about Greg until now. While there was a fairly high chance that Amethyst was wrong and Greg wouldn’t actually kill them, Garnet couldn’t see any future in which Greg would be _happy_ about this.

And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find a future where Steven was with them.

Indecision and shuffling commenced for another minute until they could no longer put off the inevitable – the gems, plus Connie, began to head towards the car wash of Greg Universe, their footsteps trailing behind Sadie and Jamie. Beach City was such a small town, you could literally walk to anywhere within the matter of minutes; the only person who actually felt the need to drive around was the mayor.

Jamie felt safety in numbers, hence why he had waited until Sadie decided to leave with the others. If he was lucky, maybe Barb would let him sleep on their couch or something; the thought of heading home, alone, was too much to bear.

A block from the car wash, Sadie said a quiet goodbye to the group as she and Jamie headed towards her own home. From there, the remaining quartet could see the lights were still on, meaning that Greg was still there, either cleaning up or most likely, waiting for them to show up. The closer they got however, neither of those scenes actually rang true.

The former musician was sitting on the back bumper of his van, the doors wide open and his guitar sitting at the ready next to him - which was his usual habit - and he seemed to be speaking to Vidalia, who was hugging her youngest son in a very tight hug. The mother and artist had come to visit Greg, hoping for a little lighthearted chat – it had been a little over a week since Onion had disappeared and no amount of searching it seemed could find him.

Then all of a sudden that night, the strange blonde-haired boy had come running down the street, most likely to find Greg, and was surprised to see his mother instead. The child had immediately hugged her fiercely, causing the normally put together and spirit rebel to break down and cry, something Greg hadn’t seen her do since finding out she was pregnant with Sour Cream.

Having spent more than enough time with Amethyst, Vidalia could point her out in a line up (and at one point, actually _had_ ), so when the four figures came closer, she yelled out a greeting, which caused Greg to stand from his perch. If this had been a normal day, Steven would’ve come barreling towards him, while Amethyst would have a choice retort for the blonde standing next to him.

But even with a few yards of distance between them, Greg Universe could tell this…was _not_ a normal day.

When he thought back on that day, he wasn’t sure what tipped him off that something was wrong – was it the fact that Steven wasn’t with the group? Or was it the forlorn looks the Gems wore? Or had it been the look of devastation Connie had on her face?

He didn’t know, maybe it was all three, but he knew the moment he saw them – and when they saw him – that something was wrong, very wrong, and it somehow involved Steven.

The group stopped a few feet from the van and its owner. No one said anything, what was there to say, really? Greg knew something had happened and the Gems almost seemed to plead with him to not ask, to just know things…were bad. Very bad. But Pearl couldn’t leave it like this; as surprising as it was, she couldn’t leave Greg not knowing what had happened and what their options – if they had any – were now.

Her attitude about Steven’s father had changed, had _been_ changing for a number of years now, but it was only their trip to Empire City that they had finally discussed the ghost between them. Pearl had done a lot of thinking since then – about Rose and her role in the quartz’ life, about what that had truly meant, and where Pearl went from there – but ultimately, her first course correction was that Greg had _not_ been the problem, not really.

Once they didn’t have the specter of Rose Quartz between them – though, to be perfectly honest, they would _always_ have that connection, but now it wasn’t tinged with jealousy and spite – Pearl found that they may have been friends if not for that; she hoped they were friends now. Her respect and admiration of him had grown in contrast to herself – he had done a much better job of dealing with Rose’s passing, on top of raising a baby mostly on his own, and certainly not with help from them.

Pearl sometimes wished she could use the Glass of Time to go back in time, to shake her younger self, explain what she now knew, and maybe things would’ve been different. Certainly, if they had that time turner, they wouldn’t be here _now_.

So, Pearl took the initiative. “We’re sorry,” she sobbed. “We’re so sorry. We didn’t want this, we _never_ wanted this!”

Vidalia knew when stuff was about to get real – she’d learned that the hard way after finding herself pregnant by a man who clearly hadn’t even remembered her name – and part of her thought about leaving the group to it. She may have been friends with Amethyst, but she didn’t normally take part in their weird goings on; Greg, obviously had, if his stint at an alien zoo were anything to go on.

But instead of going home, the artist continued to hang around and listened as the Gems began to explain what happened. She had a right to, after all, her son had been one of the victims, but unlike Steven, Onion had come back to her. Vidalia tried to listen closely – something about a list Steven had given out in the past, which had led to two aliens from their former planet coming to take the names on that list – but instead, the blonde found her eyes looking at the faces of the Gems.

Amethyst, for her part, was hardly ever quiet. Even when upset, the little gem was boisterous and loud and full of spirit; it was one of the reasons the two of them got along so well. The purple gem that stood before her was every bit the exact opposite of the Amethyst she knew. Arms crossed and looking everywhere but at Greg, the smaller gem hadn’t said one word through this explanation.

Vidalia didn’t know the other two gems very well – or really, at all – but it was clear even to her that they were both extremely shaken up by this. The thinner gem seemed to be physically stopping herself from crying, again most likely, however she was doing a horrible job at it. The taller one may have seemed the most put together, but Vi had been around people like that – heck, she _was_ people like that – and she knew the more you tried to present yourself as having everything together, the more you were falling apart inside.

Then, there was the teenaged girl in the group. Again, the blonde had never met her, but by looks alone this had to be the infamous Connie, best friend and partner in crime to Steven Universe. Like Amethyst, she hadn’t said one word during the retelling of events, but her face clouded – whether in sadness or in anger – when the story hit some particular parts.

Onion, like his mother, tuned most of the discussion out in favor of continuing to hug her. For a mostly independent child, being taken by strange beings who were intent on taking you away had been…well…really scary. And worse, they _had_ taken someone away – Steven. The small boy felt horrible about that, especially when he had tried to warn Steven and his friends a week ago. He knew they hadn’t meant to leave him there at Funland – he did tend to wander off and was fine by himself – but he had been really worried that something or someone was chasing him.

After Steven calmed him down, he thought maybe it _was_ his imagination. He may have been a big boy, but he was still kinda little. And then the two scary people had taken him and he had to watch as they started picking up the mail guy and then the donut guy, the donut girl, and finally Steven’s girlfriend.

Speaking of, when Onion looked at her, she looked really sad and mad at the same time. While Onion wasn’t known in the town as a big affectionate person, he actually did like hugging people, especially people he liked. He hugged his family all the time and when he got home, he knew his big brother would totally want to hug him, making sure his baby bro was alright. Dad was home now and would want one too.

So, seeing Steven’s girlfriend look so sad, Onion thought…maybe a hug would help. Letting go of his mother, Onion went over to Connie, before throwing his arms around her frame. It was noticeable on the teen’s state of mind that it took her nearly a minute to realize she was being hugged and by who, but when she looked down and saw the small tuft of blonde hair, she immediately responded by hugging back.

Onion looked up at her, worry clear on his face. She had noticed a while back that the strange boy hardly ever talked to anyone that wasn’t family – read, not at all – but maybe that was because you could practically read the emotions on his face (well, if you knew him well, that is). “You okay?” she whispered, receiving a short nod in response, however his expression didn’t change. Giving him a small smile, she answered the unspoken question.

“I’m okay, too.”

The boy knew that was a lie, he was good at spotting people who were lying to him, but instead, Onion matched her smile with one of his own. He knew she was sad, just like she probably knew he was sad, because Steven hadn’t escaped with them. But Onion knew Steven and he knew Steven’s family – they wouldn’t just let those people take Steven and get away with it.

Vidalia called for her youngest before giving Greg’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. “If you need anything…” she said, giving the shoulder a pat at his nod of acknowledgement. Taking her son by the hand, Vidalia began to move off, though she threw out a “That goes for you too, Trouble!” as she left.

“Mr. Universe,” Connie whispered, startling the adults. This was the first time they had heard her speak since…the incident. “Could I borrow your phone? I need to call my parents.”

“Yeah,” Greg stumbled, looking around him for his cell phone. “Yeah Connie, of course.” When he found it, he handed it over, stating, “I already have your parents’ number in there, so…”

“Thanks.”

The group watched the girl put some distance between them, as not to interrupt their conversation, while also keeping hers private. The Gems once again turned back to Greg – this was a man, a human at that, that they had known for twenty years and in all that time, none of them could ever remember seeing him so…distraught and broken like this. Even after they had lost Rose, Greg had seemed to handle the whole affair _much_ better than they had and raised a human baby on top of that.

“Greg…”

“Don’t,” he interrupted, trying to keep his voice as level as possible. Very rarely did Greg get upset and he could count on one hand the number of times he may have been angry at the Gems themselves. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t upset now, which he was, though he surprisingly wasn’t upset with the three gems that stood before him.

He was upset at the situation. _Of course_ Steven felt that he needed to take responsibility for his mother’s actions and of course he would feel the only way to do that was to offer himself up to Homeworld. Sometimes that kid was too good for his own good. But from the way the Gems were talking, it sounded like they weren’t sure what to do or if they _could_ do anything.

And that scared him more than anything else. He had always counted on the three to watch and protect Steven and when forces threatened that, he knew they would always come up with a plan. When the remaining Crystal Gems didn’t have a plan…

“I know it wasn’t your fault,” Greg continued, taking a deep breath. “You did everything you could, you always do. We just…”

How in the world had it come to this, where _Greg Universe_ of all people would be trying to reassure the _Crystal Gems_ that they could somehow find a way to rescue his son from the clutches of Homeworld?

Gesturing towards the teen girl on the phone, he quietly asked, “How’s she taking it?”

It was a long held belief between the group that, at some point in the future, Steven and Connie would be an official couple; Garnet had all but guaranteed that to the point she and Pearl were in the midst of a friendly competition over wedding decorations. Greg had known from the moment Steven had insisted on trying to track down the girl after he found her glow bracelet on the sidewalk.

His answer didn’t take long, as they heard Connie shout, “I will not!” into the phone. It was such a shock, in part that the shout had interrupted a rather quiet atmosphere and none of the assembled adults had _ever_ heard Connie speak to her parents like that before, that all four adults seemed to rear back in surprise.

“Not well,” Amethyst muttered, all eyes on the teen as she hung up the phone and stormed towards them.

“Uh…” Greg stammered, as she thrusted the phone towards him. “Need a ride home?”

“I’m not _going_ home,” came the growl.

“That’s fine,” Garnet said, knowing anything to counter the statement would just make the situation worse. “You can stay with us. It’s better if we’re all together anyways.”

“I’ll need to grab the barnmates then,” Amethyst replied, quietly. “Aw man, Peri is _not_ gonna take this well.”

 

* * *

 

The gem known as Peridot sat hard on the couch, the shock rendering her limbs immovable, even if she wanted.

True to the statement, once the green gem had heard about what had happened, she did _not_ take it well.

As soon as the group had arrived back at the beach house, Amethyst had made her way towards the warp pad, her destination being that of the old farmhouse where the gems Peridot and Lapis Lazuli lived and called home.

The remaining adults gave Connie a wide berth once they had entered; she had remained in a foul mood since hanging up the phone with her parents. Since then, Greg had gotten at least three calls from the Maheswaran residence that he wasn’t sure how to handle. It was clear the girl wasn’t about to make the effort to talk to her parents and forcing her would just make matters worse.

As soon as the warp pad lit up, the group waved over the two barnmates and told them the news – about Aquamarine and Topaz and what Steven had done. The kicker of course had been when Lapis had asked why the two gems were even there; the Gems had looked so uncomfortable at having to reveal the truth, however Garnet was the one to say it.

To inform the small green gem that it had been her report that had gotten Steven taken had gone over as you would expect, with Peridot sitting hard on the couch in shock.

No one, _no one_ , in the room blamed Peridot for this and certainly not the way she blamed herself. Back when she had first met Steven, she _had_ been working for Homeworld and the Diamonds, after all; it had been _her job_ to report back what she had found on Earth.

But that almost seemed like a lifetime ago.

Since then, she had become a Crystal Gem! She had helped save Earth! She had _called Yellow Diamond a clod_ , for gem’s sake! Things like this didn’t happen this way! Steven was supposed to be _here_! They were _all_ supposed to be here, enjoying their lives on the planet, and if Homeworld were to come back, they were supposed to be planning for the attack.

Lapis was faring no better. The thought that two of the most elite gems on Homeworld had come to Earth had her close to just going back home or fleeing completely somewhere else. But she couldn’t, not when Steven wasn’t here. She couldn’t do that to him and looking at Peridot, she couldn’t do that to her, either. It was clear this was a blow to the otherwise confident gem.

“What do we do now?” she asked, quietly.

“What _can_ we do?” Amethyst answered, forlornly. “That stupid ruby went off and _jacked_ our only way to Homeworld.”

The very thought about the ruby Steven had nicknamed Navy immediately had Lapis frowning. “The next time I see that little psycho, I’m drowning her,” she spat.

“Let me at her first,” the purple gem added. “I’ll give her a lesson about taking things that aren’t yours.”

Peridot, seemingly shocked out of her stupor by the conversation around her, looked between the gems surrounding her. “Um…guys…” she whispered, throwing a look towards Garnet. They were, after all, speaking about actually breaking one of her components after all.

“You’ll get no argument from me,” the fusion replied, her voice hard. “I’ll even help. I’d be _happy_ to help.”

The conversation quickly went back to the matter at hand – Steven and if it was even possible to retrieve him and bring him back. As Amethyst had stated, they no longer had access to a ship that could get them to Homeworld and back.

“What if we built a ship?” Greg suggested. “We did it once, maybe we could do it again.”

Pearl immediately shook her head. “You remember how that went,” she sighed. “The whole thing broke apart before we even broke the atmosphere.”

“And I doubt you have the technical advances to keep the thing in space,” Peridot added. Looking at Pearl, she backtracked by saying, “Not that I doubt your proficiency to build a ship! I’m just saying…”

“I know, Peridot,” the thin gem interrupted, giving the green gem a smile. “And you’re right. The ship we built was just something to try and reach the stars; this would need to be able to reach Homeworld and I highly doubt there’s enough materials in the barn to get close to that.”

“Not to mention speed,” the green gem continued. “The advantages of having the Red Eye was its capacity to reach Homeworld within a relatively quick time.”

“What if you used an older ship?”

The question startled the group, both in its context and the person who asked it. Both Garnet and Pearl, who were the only ones standing at that point, turned to glance at the kitchen island and to the girl who had retreated there since walking through the door of the beach house.

“Connie?” Pearl asked.

“You once told me that Earth was and could possibly be littered with gem technology,” the young girl continued, her eyes hard and looking away from the group; it took nearly a minute before Garnet realized that the girl was quite figuratively boring a hole through the portrait of Rose Quartz.

“So that would include ships, correct? Steven wanted to take me to meet Centipeedle and he said she lived in one of the older gem ships. Why not use one of them?”

“Could we?” Amethyst questioned, looking first at Pearl, then Peridot.

“I…I’m not sure,” Pearl stammered, also turning towards the former Homeworld engineer.

“It’s a good theory,” the gem answered, slowly. “But you’re talking about rigging new technology over _ancient_ technology. And that’s assuming the older ships even still work.”

Connie’s eyes immediately turned towards the group and if they hadn’t known the girl was upset, she certainly wasn’t hiding it now. “You’re both engineers, aren’t you?” she asked, her tone laced with frustration and irritation. “Engineer it to _work_!”

“It’s not that simple,” Peridot insisted. “We’d have to account for the differences in technology and then try modifying the older tech with the new tech and that could just be a shot in the dark; just because the controls might light up doesn’t mean it’ll _fly_.”

Standing up forcibly, Connie began to stalk towards the group. It was a side of Connie none of them had seen before and to be honest, it was quite unnerving. “Then figure it out!” she cried, glaring at the small gem on the couch. “Are you telling me the oh so great and loveable, highly intelligent Peridot can’t figure out how to connect two wires together to make a ship go!?”

“Whoa, whoa,” Greg interrupted, grabbing the girl’s arm and pulling her back slightly. “Connie, take it down a notch.”

“Like several notches,” Amethyst grumbled. She had been in the path of the Troubled Teen Tsunami, sitting on the edge of the coffee table, and while she could certainly fend the girl off, the purple gem thought Connie too emotional to know when to back off.

“Don’t add,” Greg spat, giving the purple gem an annoyed look. Turning the girl to look at him, he said, “Hey, we’re just spit balling here. We’ll figure something out.”

“And what if we _can’t_?”

And wasn’t that the million-dollar question for everyone in the room. They could literally sit there all night long, trying to come up with ways on leaving Earth and trying to get Steven, but they were just thoughts - spit balls as Greg had deemed them – ideas, but unless those ideas could be placed into actual action, they were just kidding themselves.

Steven Universe could definitely and absolutely be gone for good, never to be seen again by those that loved him.

Some of Connie’s anger seemed to leave her, as she bowed her head. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, looking up at Greg, and trying to blink back the tears that were gathering in her eyes. “He…he was right there. He was standing next to me when I jumped. I had one job; I was supposed to protect him and I couldn’t. I couldn’t. What kind of knight am I?”

“Oh Connie.”

Sometimes, a teacher is surprised by their students and Pearl had accepted that fact when it came to her own students, Connie especially. There were times that Pearl could easily substitute herself for the girl – the devotion to one’s leader, the loyalty to a quartz, the easy way that quartz made them feel; as though they were the best and greatest things they could ever hope to have and know – and there were times when Connie had shown a better side, a better way of thinking that wasn’t so dour, even if done in service to the one they loved.

Pearl had been in Connie’s position before, a number of times actually, when Rose had been poofed and when Rose had gone, leaving her son in her absence. How many times had Pearl wondered if there had been something she could’ve done, something she could’ve said that would’ve kept Rose with them. It was only recently Pearl had begun to understand, begun to take comfort in the fact that, there _was_ nothing she could’ve done. Rose had wanted to create something with Greg, something human, and that something was Steven and Pearl would never, _ever_ go through a life that was devoid of Steven, even if it meant having his mother back.

And with that knowledge, Pearl knew Connie would make the same vow – there was no life before Steven Universe and as far as the teen was concerned, there was no life after him either. But the thin gem wasn’t quite at the point of giving up; she knew Garnet wasn’t, nor Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, or Greg.

And deep down, she knew Connie wasn’t about to give up either. That’s why she was so upset – because if they couldn’t find a feasible way, it meant they had given up.

Turning the girl to face her, Pearl looked her protégé in the eyes. “You are the _best_ kind of knight,” she said.

“How?”

“Because the best knights _never_ give up in the face of adversity,” Pearl replied, kindly. “Connie, you did everything you could to make sure everyone was able to get the ship. If not for you, there would be more humans going back to Homeworld. And you protected Steven to the best of your abilities.”

“And best knights get first dibs at kicking Steven’s butt when we see him,” Amethyst supplied, happily.

That caused a giggle from the teen and a slight nod. “There,” the lithe gem whispered, brushing a lone tear from Connie’s eye. “We _will_ get Steven back, even if we have to make Lapis fly us one by one to Homeworld.”

Said terraformer gave Pearl a look. “I’m not like a transport system, you know,” she stated. “I’m going to charge for you that.”

“Eh,” Amethyst shrugged. “We’ll start a tab or something.”

“You do realize how big this is,” Lapis said, looking at everyone around her. “This isn’t the human zoo, where there was one agate you had to get around. This is _Homeworld_ , we’re talking about. At bare minimum, we’ll run into a horde of soldiers, compromised of quartzes, rubies, jaspers, and who knows who else.

“At worse, _the Diamonds_ will find us,” she continued. Turning to Peridot, she stated, “Yellow won’t be happy if she remembers you didn’t blow up after you called her a clod.” To Garnet, she said, “And Blue Diamond isn’t exactly _happy_ with you.”

To Pearl, she just said, “You _know_ what’ll happen to you should you go back.”

Making sure she made her point, the winged gem sighed. “I’m not saying that we shouldn’t save Steven,” she said. “We absolutely should, but there’s just six of us and we’ve got no ship. And what I just laid out doesn’t even _begin_ to cover what could happen to us on Homeworld. Newsflash – we’re a bunch of misfits. What can _we_ do?”

The speech perhaps did its job too well – it was a bleak outlook on what they were planning to do. Lapis was right, to save Steven they would need a ship, which they didn’t have and creating one looked to be a long endeavor which could make getting their boy back take even longer. And that didn’t even address the hardships they would face on their former planet.

Pearl and Garnet were wanted war criminals, though not as big as Rose Quartz, but still founding members of her movement; Amethyst’s own size would get her carted off to be harvested, while Lapis and Peridot would lucky to join her. And Connie would find herself among the other humans in Pink Diamond’s zoo.

“Yeah,” the girl sniffed. “You’re right. You’re right, Lapis. We are a bunch of misfits. And the Diamonds probably won’t take kindly to _any_ of us being on Homeworld.” Giving her mentor a smile, she looked at the other gems. “But I don’t care. And it doesn’t matter what they think because we _are_ going to get Steven back by doing what other misfits do.”

“Which is what?” asked Lazuli.

The girl grinned. “Rebel.”

The others couldn’t help but smile. This had been what the original rebellion had been built on – the idea of being free from the confines of Homeworld, to be their own gems instead of the manufactured identities the Diamonds wanted for them.

“So,” Connie asked. “Are you in? Or out?”

The look of surprise quickly turned to a mirthless chuckle. “This plan is gonna suck,” Lapis replied, shaking her head. “But point made, Boss. I’m in.”

“You know,” Pearl replied, a thoughtful look on her face. “I did manage to store some of your ship’s parts, Peridot. Do you think we could outfit them to an outdated ship?”

“It’s possible,” the engineer said, her tone also taking on a thoughtful pose. “We’d have to do a lot of reverse engineering to get it into submission, but I believe our combined superior intellect should be able to conquer the available variables.” The green gem sighed. “It really depends on how much you managed to salvage though.”

“There _was_ a big cleanup effort,” Amethyst said. “Don’t suppose anyone kept anything else though.”

Peridot scoffed. “What human in their right mind would hold on to a bunch of alien space junk?”


	2. Rebuild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie talks to her parents, a conspiracy nut, and a showstopper all within the matter of hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in lateness - I had planned to give this to you guys yesterday, but an area wide internet outage that didn't resolve itself until this morning knocked that plan out. *insert sad Gina face* But we back, baby!
> 
> 'Kahaani' has been the fan favorite, given name for Connie, so I've used it here.
> 
> Also, some grats to BlueSkyHeadLeft010, who guessed tonight's special guest last chapter!
> 
> EDIT 4/25: turned Garnet's question into a statement

The sky had already turned from its dusty hue to that of darkened night by the time Lapis and Peridot took their leave. The Crystal Gems now had a plan – thanks to Connie’s sudden remembrance of where they might seriously find remnants of the hand ship the green gem had arrived in – and something that would need to be addressed in the morning. Greg opted to stay at the beach house, though the original trio of gems were quick to dismiss him staying in the van by himself.

Pearl had shooed Connie off to go change, one of Steven’s shirts and a pair of his pajama pants in her hand as she went. The girl felt she was being ushered away from some sort of important conversation that was taking place between Garnet and Pearl, but she would be lying if she said the excitement of the day and the argument with her parents hadn’t drained some of her energy. As suspected, once she had showered and changed, Pearl was mysteriously gone and it looked like Garnet was waiting for her.

“Connie,” replied the fusion, meeting the girl before she could go up the stairs to Steven’s loft. “You need to call your parents.”

The confusion on the girl’s face morphed into anger. “You’re not leaving me behind,” she growled. “I _am_ going with you to get him back.”

“I wouldn’t dare stop you,” Garnet said, a smile on her face. “And even if I did, I certainly wouldn’t do it by myself.”

Sufficiently chastised, the girl nodded. She knew the permafusion always had a reason for doing the things she did, thanks to her future vision, so calling her parents had to be something that lined up with what they had to do next. “I suppose if I don’t call my parents,” Connie said. “It would upset some balance of fate that would reroute our mission?”

Garnet looked at her. “No,” she said. “I just think you should call your parents to let them know you’re alright.” Holding out a cell phone to her, which Connie recognized as being Greg’s, the fusion continued with, “They’re worried about you.”

For some reason, the teen found the conversation funny enough to chuckle. Of course many of Garnet’s words and decisions were taken based off her ability to see future events, but most times it was just the fusion pointing out the obvious. Nodding, Connie took the phone and made her way outside; it wouldn’t do to disturb everyone in the house if another disagreement popped up.

Standing outside on the deck of the house, Connie breathed in the sea air that wafted from the ocean. She was still feeling the confidence from her earlier words to the gems, which would hopefully help in the conversation she was about to have with her parents. If she was lucky, her father would answer; so of course when she hit the return option from the five calls that had previously come in, she had to hold in her sigh when she heard the sternness in her mother’s voice.

“Maheswaran residence.”

“Mom.”

“Connie!?” the doctor cried. “Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been, young lady!? Where are you? Are you alright?”

“Mom, I’m fine,” the teen replied. “I’m at the beach house and I’m gonna stay the night.”

“Oh no, you’re not!”

“Mom…”

“Kahaani, listen to me,” Priyanka began, anger still laced in her tone, but minimizing it to try and convince her daughter to return home. “You said earlier that…that…Steven had been taken? I understand that may have been a traumatic experience for you. Steven was a good boy and…”

“He’s not dead,” Connie interrupted, her voice hard.

“I…no, no, of course he isn’t,” the doctor backtracked. “I’m sorry, I just…that was rude. I didn’t mean to…the point, Connie, is that Steven – for the moment – is gone and who knows when the gems will be able to retrieve him…”

“We’re figuring some things out,” the teen stated. “And when we come up with something concrete, I’m going with them.”

“No, you are _not_ , Kahaani,” Priyanka growled. “Now, I know Steven is your friend and that your feelings might not be completely platonic, but he’s just _one_ boy, Kahaani. I know you don’t see it now, but you’re going to meet _plenty_ of other boys that will come and go in your life. You’re young and…”

“What if this was Dad?”

“What?”

“What if,” Connie began. “I had called you earlier and told you it was _Dad_ that had been taken. Would we be having the same conversation? What if I told you that Dad was just one guy, and that while we both loved him, there were plenty of other guys that could come and go in our lives. That maybe one day, you’d find someone else and…”

“Kahaani, don’t you dare,” Priyanka interrupted. “Your father is _your father_ and this is a _completely_ different situation. Steven is different! He’s a gem…”

“He’s also human.”

“He’s had training for these sorts of things…”

“So have I.”

“You’re my _daughter_!” the doctor tried again. “Our only _child_!”

“So is Steven,” the teen said plainly. “Mom…you wanted me to be honest and to tell you what was going on. That’s what I’m trying to do. I know you don’t understand and I promise I’ll try and explain everything before I leave, but I am going. I know you think he’s just some random boy that I’ll forget in time, but I won’t.

“Steven Universe isn’t the kind of boy a girl forgets.”

There was silence on the other side, so much that Connie was sure her mother had hung up in either frustration or complete anger. “We can’t talk you out of this, can we?” the doctor asked.

“No,” the girl replied. “I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

“Oh Connie,” Priyanka whispered, sniffing slightly. “I’m sorry that you think you have.”

Their conversation ended on that note, though with the unspoken sentiment that the teen would need to show up at home at some point, to hopefully explain what this all meant. Connie loved her parents, she truly did, and a part of her wondered if this _was_ some rebellious streak her parents thought started after she turned twelve, but the person Connie was before meeting Steven and the person she was now were two separate people.

Connie _liked_ the person she was now and that was all in part due to one Steven Quartz Universe. Yes, her mother was right – at this point, the teen couldn’t separate her feelings for Steven from platonic to more and Connie was pretty sure they leaned towards ‘more’ than anything else, but the girl was fairly sure there wouldn’t and _couldn’t_ be anyone after Steven.

They wouldn’t be able to compete.

And maybe her mother _was_ right – perhaps her own thirteen-year-old hormones _were_ messing with her logic and she was going more on feelings than thought; maybe one day down the line Steven _wouldn’t_ be the only boy for her and far more interesting boys would enter the picture, more human and less exciting adventures in life; given that she’d be entering high school within the year, maybe some quiet, charming boy would steal her heart.

It was on the front of her thoughts to ask Garnet, ask her if there was a future with her and Steven together or if there was a future where the two would stay friends, but that was as far as their relationship went. If it was the latter, would Connie be okay with that? Were her feelings now just a product of a first crush that would eventually fizzle out and make way for deeper and more meaningful relationships?

It was hard to say, but for now, Connie would go with her heart. The future, if anything, always changed. Maybe a year from now, things would be different, but for now, the teen was going to go back inside, climb up the stairs, and go to bed. She was going to plant her face in Steven’s pillow and enjoy the scent of the boy who had her heart, regardless of how he felt about her (though she already knew the answer to that).

Turning from the ocean view, Connie went back inside and headed for bed.

 

* * *

 

The sun was just coming up in the sky when Pearl made her way up the steps to the beach house. She hadn’t intended to stay out all night, but circumstances dictated that she be a lot calmer for today’s efforts. Opening the door slowly, Pearl tip-toed inside, wanting to make sure not to disturb the entire household. She could see Connie fast asleep above her, nestled between the sheets of Steven’s bed. And just like the boy she missed, Connie looked so small and innocent when asleep and not the warrior Pearl was training her to be.

In situations like this, the lithe gem often wondered if they, if _she_ , were doing the right thing for both teenagers; the Gems had often been reminded how much stress and pressure Steven had on his shoulders – both from the Gems and from himself – and this latest crisis was just another thing that might prove too much for the boy. And with Connie, a human who had decided to put her trust and faith in them and would be going with them to a place most of them _never_ wanted to see again, the cost to her life was far higher than that of the human-gem hybrid.

Taking one last look at the sleeping girl, Pearl turned and began to make her way towards the temple doors before halting suddenly in her steps. Turning to look over her shoulder, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Garnet within the kitchen, leaning against the counter. “Not one word,” the thinner gem replied, giving the fusion a look.

“Just one.”

Pearl turned to look at her, waiting to hear what this word could possibly be.

“Howdy.”

The gem couldn’t stop the chuckle even if she wanted to. Instead, she made her over to take a seat at the kitchen island across from the fusion. “Good morning, Garnet,” she replied, sending the taller gem a smile. “I hope you haven’t been standing here all-night waiting for my glorious return.”

Garnet gave a chuckle of her own. “Oh, I’d wait a lifetime for all of _your_ returns, Pearl.”

Said gem smirked, the tone of affection not lost on her. The two gems had literally been through heck and back with each other, forging a friendship that had started the moment the fusion had tumbled down the grassy embankment before the feet of rebellion leader Rose Quartz and her terrifying renegade Pearl.

And if Pearl was correct, they would be doing so again, but instead of having Rose lead them, they would be doing this to save her son.

“Garnet,” the gem whispered. “Do you _really_ think this is going to work? I mean…you heard Lapis; she was right. She’s _absolutely_ right. Going to the human zoo had been a lucky endeavor, even with Blue and Yellow Diamond showing up unexpectedly. And we are at the _top_ of their list for gems they’d most like to shatter.”

The permafusion nodded her agreement. Heading to the human zoo to rescue Greg had been a spur of the moment plan, thrown together with the sole purpose of saving the human from what they knew would be his ultimate fate. What they hadn’t expected, or rather what they hadn’t even thought about, was the guards that would block them or the agate in charge of their care.

Having the guards on their side, thanks to them being from the same kindergarten as their own Amethyst, had been a very pleasant turn in their favor; what the fusion absolutely hadn’t seen was for one diamond, much less _two_ , to suddenly show up. If it had been up to her, Garnet would erase that moment from her mind and that of her components.

Lapis had pinpointed her good last night – their only saving grace had been Blue either being so consumed by grief or just not recognizing the two gems that stood before her; should Blue Diamond ever see Garnet or Ruby and Sapphire again, there was little to no doubt of what would happen.

“My answer remains the same as it did last night,” the fusion answered. “I don’t know. There are many paths from this decision and not all of them end favorably. But we’ve changed the path of fate before and I’m more than willing to do it again if it means we get Steven back, safe and sound.”

“Of course,” Pearl said. “There might be a real chance we could avoid the Diamonds and they’d be none the wiser, like before.”

“And there might not be,” Garnet said. “So we have to be prepared for that outcome.”

“Are _you_?”

Lowering her shades to look directly at the gem before her, Garnet replied, “We both know the answer to that.”

“Yes,” Pearl sighed, turning away. “Yes we do.”

Their conversation was tabled with the sounds of Connie coming down the stairs. Pearl set about making breakfast and was in the midst of dishing it out to the teen when Amethyst loudly made her entry into the beach house, waking Greg from his slumber on the couch. It was too much of a state for Pearl to chastise the purple gem, so she let it go for the moment.

Breakfast, thankfully, was more lighthearted than the previous night, but perhaps that was due to the group now having a set objective that they didn’t have before. After the meal, Connie, Pearl, and Garnet would go see about the person the teen suspected would know more about the remnants of Peridot’s former ship. If they were lucky, there might be enough material to implant inside an ancient gem ship and the gems had a few subjects in mind to try them on.

If they weren’t lucky…well, that was a bridge they would cross if it had to be.

Greg took to cleaning up after breakfast, waving off the matronly gem, stating she should at least let him make up for his behavior the last time he had been a guest. Giving his shoulder an affectionate pat, Pearl headed out, with Garnet and Connie following her out the door.

The two gems rarely made their way to the heart of Beach City, usually Amethyst was the one that frequently went to the boardwalk or arcade with Steven, but the gems weren’t unknown to those in the city. Jenny Pizza and Buck Dewey gave them waves as the trio past the Big Donut, where the two sat outside enjoying morning coffee and donuts; Kofi Pizza wasn’t as enthusiastic as his daughter Kiki when the gems passed. They could save the day, all day long as far as he was concerned, but they were still a bunch of troublemakers. Kiki, like her sister, gave them a friendly wave and even tried to cover the giggle when Garnet gave a finger gun to her father, causing him to growl in annoyance.

Next door to Fish Stew Pizza was Beach Citywalk Fries, the favorite place to get boardwalk fries within the city and Steven’s favorite place to get the runt ends of the treat left in the fryer. Manning the booth was the familiar face of Peter David Fryman or PeeDee to most of his friends and family; the young boy took his role in the family business seriously, to the point of ignoring mundane things like alien invasions in order to ensure the restaurant thrive and survive.

PeeDee had a rather adult way of looking at things, some would even call it cynical for a young child, but that was one of the things Connie liked about him. It was almost expected of her and maybe even him to be cheerful, happy children, that ran around with no knowledge of the world around them and that was something the two bucked against.

If the blonde had been surprised to see his friend in the company of the gems or why they would be there so early in the morning, his face didn’t show it; if anything, he had a ready smile for the girl when the trio stopped at the stand. “Hey Connie,” he replied. “Kinda early to be getting fries, don’t you think?”

“Well, I know you like expecting the unexpected,” she said, leaning casually against the bar counter. “Actually, we’re here for your brother.”

“That’s a sentence I haven’t heard in a while,” PeeDee said.

“You would think that would be surprising to hear,” Pearl stated. “But somehow, it’s not.”

Gesturing to the side, the blonde said, “He’s in the corner, of course, updating his blog.” Turning to the outline of his brother, “Hey Ronaldo, there’s some people here to see you. Probably important.”

The sounds of chair scrapping and shuffling could be heard before the teenager was before them. Seeing who was on the other side, Ronaldo Fryman quickly straighten. “I knew it,” he said, confidently. “You want me back.”

“Wha?” Pearl asked.

“No,” Garnet said.

“You’re telling me you two aren’t here to beg me to come back to the Crystal Gems?” The elder boy asked. “I know things ended on a…rather awkward note, but I think my contributions were clear. Sorry, Connie, but I’ll have to ask you to leave. The adults need to have a talk.”

Connie raised a slim eyebrow before throwing a look to PeeDee, who was leaning against the counter with a similar look on his face. “Should I stop him or…?” he asked, gesturing to his brother.

“Oh no,” the girl replied. “Let him continue hanging himself.”

“We need to speak with you,” Garnet said.

“About rejoining the Crystal Gems?” Ronaldo asked. The looks he received clearly gave the statement that this conversation was _not_ about that, causing the elder teen to chuckled nervously. “I got you,” he said, amid some light laughs. “I’m joking, of course. I knew…I…” Turning to his brother, he quickly said, “Listen, PeeDee, can you cover for me for a bit? Just tell Dad, um…uh…”

“Something came up, dealing with a vast conspiracy, that only you could possibly handle and investigate?”

“Yeah,” Ronaldo said, surprised at how quickly his brother came up with an excuse. “That’s perfect.” The elder teen quickly went about ditching his apron, while simultaneously grabbing his laptop – as you never know when the perfect subject for a blog would come up – before going out the side door.

Garnet began to make her way towards him, while Connie waved a goodbye to her friend. Pearl lingered for a moment, reaching into her gem to pull out a few bills before handing them to the boy. “Did you want an order to go?” he asked. While he didn’t know these two gems very well, he was pretty sure they never ordered anything from him that wasn’t specifically for Steven.

“Oh, no,” Pearl chuckled. “That’s for you. A…uh…tip, for such dedication to your work.”

“Well, I am rather passionate about my job.”

“It shows,” the lithe gem said, looking down. “This counter is immaculate.”

“Thank you for noticing,” PeeDee responded, a large smile gracing his face. “I like to keep a clean area around here, in case of a surprise inspection.”

“It’s so refreshing to see a young person take pride in their surroundings.”

“Pearl.”

“Right,” Pearl said, hearing her name being called. “Another time perhaps. Good day.”

The thin gem caught up with the group as they made their way towards Dewey Park. Despite being a little after nine, there were a few people in the park – mostly residents, but a few tourists. “If you’re not here to invite me back,” Ronaldo began as they walked. “What exactly is it that you need from me?”

“Do you remember the invasion that happened a few years ago?” Pearl asked.

“You mean the one where Mayor Dewey evacuated the entire town due to a giant hand in the sky pointing at us?” Ronaldo retorted. “Yes, I seem to remember there being a large crater in the side of the hill where a hand ship landed.”

“You know,” Connie piped up. “If you used that wit of yours to work on your family’s business, maybe your brother might be able to enjoy his childhood without being stuck behind the counter covering for you.”

Ronaldo shot her a look before grimacing. “Of course,” he muttered. “Steven told you what I said about you being a Crystal Gem, didn’t he? I didn’t mean anything by it, but it is a little suspicious that _you_ get to carry his mother’s sword…”

“Enough,” Garnet proclaimed, stopping the group and argument that Connie was geared up to make. “We’re not here to discuss Connie’s merit as a Crystal Gem, which is more than you have and will _ever_ get. Based on your obvious obsession with anything alien, it’s reason enough to believe that you may have parts of that hand ship and we need them.”

“What for?”

“None of your business,” Pearl said.

“It _absolutely_ is my business,” Ronaldo struck back. “Those are _my_ parts…”

“No, they’re not!”

“And as a citizen of Beach City, it is my duty…”

“Little boy, you are drawing on my last nerve…”

“It’s to rescue Steven.”

Connie’s sentence stopped the three-way argument that was happening, though she was surprised to see the words strike Ronaldo harder than the gems. “So it’s true?” he asked, looking between the three. “About Steven getting abducted?”

“I don’t know where you heard that…” Pearl jumped in, nervously looking around.

“Sadie called me,” the blonde murmured. “It was mostly to whine about what a jerk Lars is, but…she told me what happened.” He sighed, before starting his speech up again. “ _Of course_ I took parts from that ship. How else am I going to prove to people I’m not _completely_ crazy?”

“Ronaldo,” Connie pleaded. “If you have _anything_ , even…even like a sheet of metal, anything at all, it could really help us in getting Steven back. Please.”

The blonde nodded slowly. “I only took a few random parts,” he explained. “I mean, those I could move up to the lighthouse by myself. But that’s just small in comparison to what I think you really want.”

 

* * *

 

During the Great Invasion, as Mayor Dewey had called it, much of the cleanup of alien artifacts had been taken out of town, towards a waste dump that pretty much covered the coastal towns around Delmarva. As Ronaldo had explained it, while trying to get two gems and a teenaged girl into his father’s jeep, Dewey wanted to get rid of any debris on the beach before tourists started coming in.

Thankfully, cleanup had been a town affair, with everyone helping to move items off the shore and from the ocean. Taking Beach City Highway and Route 1A, the blonde teen began to head out of  towards the hills and valleys that separated the town from the larger cities the highway led to. A little off the beaten path was a large, run-downed warehouse in the distance and that’s where Ronaldo headed. How the building remained out in the field without notice was a question left for those who actually bothered to come out this far into the country side. While still sturdy, it was clear that a strong enough breeze or storm could make the roof or walls cave-in or collapse.

Driving up to the large sliding door, Ronaldo had quickly gotten and waited for the others to stand before him. With a deep sigh, the elder teen kneeled down, removing a key from his pocket and unlocking the master lock on the handle before lifting up the door. What the group saw inside made their mouths drop.

“ _How_ do you have this?” asked Pearl.

Inside the non-descript building was what remained of Peridot’s hand ship. Most of the palm was still intact, though the fingers probably needed the most work. With the weight and width of the ship, Pearl was surprised the teen boy was even able to get it to this location, so far out of Beach City or that he’d even be able to keep it.

“I told you,” Ronaldo replied. “Mayor Dewey was more than happy to be rid of this stuff and he didn’t care who got what. Luckily, I was the only one who actually knew what we had, so I asked the landfill people if I could have this. They didn’t know what to do with any of it anyway, so…”

Pearl wasn’t sure what was more distressing – the fact that humans were anywhere near such advanced alien technology or that their incompetent mayor had let people just walk away with pieces of said advanced alien technology. Both she and Garnet went inside to examine the ship, while the human teens stood a ways back, letting them explore.

“This is real, isn’t it?”

Connie looked at the blonde, surprised by his very question. Meeting her gaze, he continued with, “Steven was actually, truly abducted by aliens? No joke?”

“None of this is a joke,” Connie replied, turning back to watch the Gems. “This isn’t as simple as you seem to think, Ronaldo. I know you want to believe there’s some sort of conspiracy going on, but this is much bigger than you could ever _begin_ to imagine.”

“I can imagine a lot,” the teen retorted.

“Not this, you can’t.”

“I believe my research…”

“Your research is speculation at best,” Connie shot back. “Do you know why Steven was taken? Because they think he’s his mother.”

“What?” Ronaldo asked, confused as to why that would ever be a reason to kidnap someone. “But why…”

“Because his mother, Pearl, and Garnet are the reasons we’re still living on this planet,” the girl interrupted. “Steven’s mother is essentially a war criminal to Homeworld and Steven thought it better to turn himself in then to let them destroy the Earth out of spite.”

The blonde turned away, the revelation indeed bigger than he could have ever thought to imagine. All of his theories had never once touched on the _actual_ truth, the truth that was so much bigger than he could’ve anticipated. He had misjudged a lot of things, something he had only recently admitted to himself. He had always been an outsider and even when trying to be a part of a group of outsiders, he was still on the outside looking in.

He had lashed out at Connie because…well, because it wasn’t _fair_. Connie was human, just like he was, and he remembered back when she was just the lone, odd girl who just sat on the beach and read. And yet, she was the one integrated into the Crystal Gems; he was the one who knew about sentient rocks and their evil doings! But maybe he didn’t know everything he _should_.

And above all, Steven seemed to trust the girl more than he trusted _him_. And probably for good reason.

Both gems returned to the teens. “As unimaginable as it seems,” Pearl began. “The ship is in reasonably good shape.”

“We’re going to have to take this,” Garnet said, looking directly at Ronaldo.

The blonde opened his mouth, a complaint or retort just waiting to leave his tongue, and he could see the Gems and Connie were prepared to hear it. Instead, however, he just nodded his consent; what would be the point of him preventing them from taking the ship? He already knew first hand that he was no match for the two gems before him and while he didn’t think much of Connie, somewhere deep down he had a feeling she could seriously hurt him, even without the pink sword she carried around.

Besides, he had told Steven he would try to _help_ the Crystal Gems, so stopping them from taking the means that could bring the boy back would be in direct opposition to what he had promised. Feeling a hand on his arm, he turned to see the grateful face of the younger member.

“Thanks, Ronaldo.”

Giving her a small smile, the conspiracy theorist nodded before looking fondly at the near full-sized alien ship he’d managed to get his hands on. It would probably never happen again and no one would ever believe it now. His face registered confusion. “How’re you going to get this thing out of here?” he asked.

Pearl and Garnet looked at each other before looking back at the teen. “We got an idea,” the taller gem replied.

Gesturing around them, Pearl asked, “How attached are you to this warehouse?”

Confused by the question, Ronaldo managed to stammer that it was just an old abandoned building that he’d managed to stumble across. The two gems nodded before ushering the two out of the building and telling them to stand aside. What happened next Ronaldo wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to repeat – Pearl and Garnet, two gems, did some movements and suddenly, there was just _one_ , gigantic gem.

The only fusion Ronaldo had seen and knew was the one known as Stevonnie and even then, the blonde had no idea that they were a fusion – just that Steven and Connie somehow managed to combine themselves into some…very well put together robot suit or _something_. This…this was a giant of a gem, twice the size of the warehouse and decked out as though she was about to put on a magic show.

Though she had two legs like a normal gem, she also had four arms and four eyes covered by a pair of stylish, tan glasses.

“Hello, Beach City!” the larger gem greeted, throwing her arms out. Looking around, she added, “Though I guess this is more ‘outskirts’ than anything.” Glancing down, the larger gem gasped, covering her mouth with the upper set of her hands. “Oh my stars,” she exclaimed. “Connie Maheswaran, as I live and breathe! Oh, this is such an exciting day! I’m almost beside myself; well, I _was_!”

The larger gem gave out a loud, haughty laugh. “Wait, wait,” she said. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I haven’t given you a proper introduction. I am the _lovely_ Sardonyx and I am here to raise the roof! Quite literally, actually.” Again, the gem laughed at her own joke before turning to look down at the two teens. “Now you’re absolutely sure you’re not deeply attached to this warehouse?”

The blonde immediately shook his head, eyes wide in terror. “Excellent,” Sardonyx replied, rubbing her bottom hands together. “Now Connie, pay attention, dearheart – the trick to any renovation is style and flair. That’s why I’m here.”

“Well,” the girl replied. “This certainly keeps things from going over my head.”

The gem laughed. “Delightful girl,” she said. “Why have we not done this sooner?” Grabbing the front portion of the roof’s edge, Sardonyx squatted to a lower point. “Always remember, children, lift with your legs and not with your back and…viola!”

Thrusting up with her knees – and not her back – the larger fusion was able to rip the fragile roof off the wall foundation of the warehouse. Not wanting to crush the ship below, Sardonyx lowered the roof slightly before giving it a rough push to tilt it further back. Once the roof was teetering on the back and side walls, Sardonyx looked down at the green ship inside.

“Well, don’t you look like you could use a _hand_?”

Connie couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her mouth. Ronaldo, it seemed, was too shocked – either by the height of Sardonyx or how she had come to be – so he just stood there, his mouth agape. The younger teen knew she should somehow be scared or worried, but having already met Alexandrite, knowing Garnet, and being a part of a fusion herself, the appearance of a ‘giant woman’ – as Steven would say – didn’t seem as shocking as it might have; even meeting Alexandrite for the first time wasn’t nearly as surprising as one would think.

Connie watched as Sardonyx leaned over into the top of the warehouse, situating herself with one of her upper hands while reaching and grabbing the hand ship with the two lower ones. “And that is how you lift an alien ship from a warehouse,” she stated, straightening to her full height.

“Gotta admit,” the teen replied. “You are pretty _handy_.”

Once more, Sardonyx gave a laugh before bending and laying down a hand for Connie to step on. “And you, my darling, are the greatest of treasures,” she replied. Placing the girl on her shoulder, she looked down at the remaining teen. “You, sunny Jim,” she addressed. “Will you be fine making your way back to the city? I’m afraid Connie and I have a previous engagement we have to get to.”

Still struck by surprise, Ronaldo nodded quickly before getting into his car, starting it, and pulling away. Sardonyx tsked at the abrupt departure. “No etiquette,” she bemoaned. “Not even a goodbye. Oh well! Never mind him, let’s discuss more important things.

“Oh, this will be such the pleasure!” the fusion continued to gush, her long strides taking them through the grasslands. “Garnet and Pearl are always hogging you all to themselves and why not? You, dearheart, are an exceptional addition; and now we can enjoy a nice long walk, with a girl talk in between.”

Sardonyx had only one location in mind and that was the barn across the sea. True to form however, the showstopper made sure her passenger was entertained the entire way, the two exchanging horrible puns whenever they could. While this was their first true meeting with each other, the larger fusion felt that she already knew the little human sitting on her shoulder.

After all, she _did_ retain some of the memories and feelings of her components and both were very fond of Connie. The fusion found the girl to be highly intelligent, with a good sense of humor, and a determination that rivaled anything displayed by the current Crystal Gems roster. And being her own person, Sardonyx did not take lightly to people stealing her little cinnamon roll, Steven Universe.

Their conversation did take on the serious for a tick, just after Connie asked how they would get the hand ship to the barn. The explanation was simple – Sardonyx would walk it straight there; the location of the barn held a remarkably beautiful view of Beach City and was only a short drive away. If Greg had been able to keep that boat of his, he would’ve easily been able to ferry back and forth.

“It’ll be a nice walk in the park,” the fusion replied. “Or I guess the sea, as the case may be.”

“Then ‘water’ we waiting for?” came the cheeky response.  

Sardonyx hadn’t intended on mentioning the situation with Steven, however she couldn’t help it. Garnet and Pearl were disturbed by the boy’s self-sacrifice, so of course their fusion would be _equally_ disturbed by it; Homeworld was not known for their understanding and compassion. Sardonyx knew that well enough and now Steven had basically served himself up for Sunday dinner without so much as a ‘by your leave’ to those that loved him.

Connie felt the same way, though she could only guess the kind of horrors Homeworld might hold for the boy. “Is it really bad as I think it is?” she asked, quietly. She could see the shadowy outline of the Universe barn, though it was more Lapis and Peridot’s at this point.

“From our dear Lapis’ own words,” Sardonyx began. “The technological advancements of the Diamonds and Homeworld is far beyond anything Pearl has engaged in. That’s not to say she isn’t willing to learn and get around it, however it says something about the ruling authority when they use technological marvels to _conquer_ other species instead of _helping_ them.”

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Connie murmured.

The fusion gave the teen a quick glance. “Precisely.”

“What do you think they’ll do to him?”

“My darling girl,” Sardonyx said, a slight growl to her tone. “I try not to think about our lovely boy in the clutches of the Diamonds because we are going to _stop_ whatever plans they might have _before_ they have them.”

The barn was coming in sight and from the small figures milling about, it looked like everyone had just decided to head to the barn, possibly a better location that might help them focus on the task at hand. “Well it’s a good thing everyone just naturally assumed we’d be heading to the barn,” Sardonyx joked. “This makes having to provide communication to the contrary moot.”

As expected, the familiar ‘Mr. Universe’ van was parked outside, while Peridot and Amethyst were…well, they weren’t actually sure what they were doing, only that it involved the purple gem being shapeshifted into a jackalope for some reason. Greg and Lapis seemed to have decided there needed to be no explanation if they weren’t looking at the two, so they were discussing something else by the barn.

“Hey hey!” called the jackalope once she saw the fusion coming towards them.

“Don’t ask and don’t make any eye contact with her,” Sardonyx whispered. “I feel it will just make things worse.”

Making her way closer, Sardonyx bent slightly to place the battered hand ship gently on the grass. Standing back up, she offered a hand for Connie to step into, before bringing the girl to face her. “Well dearheart,” she said. “Our journey thus ends here.”

“Thank you for bringing me with you,” the teen replied, giving the fusion a gem. “It was a pleasure meeting and talking with you, Sardonyx.”

“My darling, the pleasure was all mine, I assure you,” came the reply. “And Connie? If it has not been made apparent, we are most happy – and grateful – for your continued presence. Should you need me again…”

“I know who to talk to.”

Winking, the fusion put the same amount – perhaps more – of affection in placing the teen on the ground safely before defusing into the familiar forms of Garnet and Pearl.

“Hey, how come you never let me ride around on your shoulders when you're fused?” whined Amethyst, now in her normal form.

“Because knowing you,” Pearl began. “You’d probably throw inappropriate things at the people below us.” The rib was lessened a bit by the playful tug the thinner gem gave to her younger counterpart’s ponytail. She continued to walk to where Peridot was walking around the ship and examining.

“Where did you find this?” she asked, the awe in her voice unmistakable.

“Believe or not,” Pearl began. “Ronaldo’s had it this entire time.”

“Who?”

“The blonde boy who works at the fry stand,” the thinner gem replied. “Not the small one, the bigger one. The one with the blog.”

“The crazy conspiracy theorist?”

“That’s the one.”

“That kid’s too unstable to have gem tech like this just laying around his living habitat,” Peridot said. “What if he blew himself up?”

“One can only hope,” Pearl muttered. Clearing her throat, she continued with, “Garnet and I looked the ship over and, despite all the odds, it seems to be in a relatively good condition.”

The green gem nodded. “It needs some work, no doubt about it,” she murmured. “But I think…I think this might actually work. We might actually be able to make this work.”

“Then let’s do it,” Garnet replied. “Because the longer we wait, the shorter the window gets on finding Steven and getting him back.”


	3. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Maheswarans get some mindful education and the Crystal Gems go off to save the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the conclusion to the first story in the War of the Worlds arc! So...FYI, I may have stated my feelings on everyone's belief that the human zoo is a great place via Greg unintentionally. I feel no shame for it and I think the old boy did a marvelous job of it. lol Also have a brief headcanon on the war and the rebellion as a whole.
> 
> I have a story recommendation for you guys - [Convictions and Captivity](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11685378). If you like the roller coaster ride that is the show, you will absolutely love this fic. I've found the author and I have similar ideas about themes and characters and they are fantastic at mind blowing cliffhangers. Go read it (after this)!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who is sticking with me to the end, joining in, commenting, bookmarking, and what have you. I seriously didn't think ANY of my silly SU ideas would be received so well, so it means a lot that you're all enjoying this. I'm on a roll this week, so hopefully you'll all join me for the next episode - A Question and A Message in which the CGs ask an important question and deliver an equally important message!

You can always tell the patience of someone by how long it takes for them to do something.

Even the most patient of people lose their composure if something they want isn’t being done in a quick and efficient manner. For a species that lives for thousands of years, the gems were _not_ patient people.

It was something Greg already knew – he did hang around Amethyst for a while – so seeing the rising tensions that were going around wasn’t all that surprising.

As hours turned to days and the days had begun to turn into a week and then over a week, it was clear that trying to piece back together an advanced alien ship wasn’t going to be as simple as originally thought. Not that Pearl and Peridot had any unrealistic ideas on how this would work, but they also held a stubbornness that declared they had wanted to present a complete and better ship within a few days, possibly a week.

Garnet must’ve known – or seen – that too because when the start of a second week began, that’s when she started kicking people out of the barn, or at least those willing to leave. Lapis was equally stubborn and wasn’t planning on leaving, opting to just play with Pumpkin or tend to the growing farm crops they had managed to cultivate.

Amethyst was a little more open to going, but only because Garnet mentioned a mission with a corrupted gem that needed to be taken care of. At that, the purple gem was more than ready to work off her energy and frustration in a fight. That left Greg and Connie. The former musician already knew his upcoming role and he was actually prepared for it.

It had been in the air for days, but was only solidified when Garnet presented Connie with her phone, the one that had been used to lead the Crystal Gems to Funland in the first place. It had managed to thankfully not only be spared from destruction, but it still had about 25% battery life yet – thanks to her battery saver and making sure her phone went into a power saving mode when not in use.

Not surprisingly, Connie saw she had about fifteen missed calls from her parents, with another nine voicemails waiting for her. Seeing those reminded the teen that she had promised to talk and see her parents before she went on any space faring mission, but she had perhaps hoped that event would come up the day before or day of.

Garnet must have seen the girl’s internal struggle because she had immediately placed a hand on her shoulder.

_“It’s okay if you want to go home for a little bit,” the fusion replied. “I promise we aren’t going anywhere without you.”_

_“I know,” the girl whispered, nodding. “I just…it’s…”_

_Giving her shoulder a squeeze, Garnet said, “This isn’t a competition; you don’t have to choose one or the other and we’d never put you in such a position.”_

_Connie shook her head. “It’s not you guys I’m worried about.”_

_“Go home, Connie,” the permafusion stated, patting her shoulder. “See your parents and talk to them. I’m sure you’ll find someone who can help put them at ease.”_

That’s when Greg had ‘suddenly’ stood by the van, with the point of going into town, maybe stopping by the Millers or, you know, drive around with no particular destination in mind. He couldn’t help but smile when Connie’s eyes widen, as though just realizing the answer to all of her prayers had been standing in front of her this entire time.

And that was how Greg ended up driving Connie home and being seated at her kitchen table.

The reunion between father and daughter went a little better than mother and daughter, though it was clear Priyanka was quite happy at seeing her daughter finally back at home. “I’m gonna go upstairs and change,” the girl replied. “Probably pack some stuff…”

“Pack?” Priya asked. “You just walked through the door and you’re about to leave?”

“I…”

“It’s always better to have some things packed, just in case,” Greg interrupted. “Connie’s cool about staying tonight and all nights until the Gems leave, right?”

Connie was only hesitant for a moment before she recognized the elder Universe’s attempt at trying to save her some face and hopefully getting her a lesser sentence in grounding when all of this was over. Noting that, she nodded her agreement.

“I’ll give you a hand,” Doug volunteered, perhaps wanting to speak to his daughter without the presence of his wife. The two turned to head upstairs, leaving the disgruntled doctor and nervous musician in the living room.

“Would you like some tea, Greg?”

Greg perked up, both from the announcement and the beverage offer. “If you wouldn’t mind,” he began. Priya nodded once before turning and heading towards the kitchen. Greg hesitated a moment before realizing that he was to follow and he quickly was able to sit in a chair at the table before the doctor even realized his confusion.

Priya went about making tea, apparently the water had already been boiled for coffee, so making tea didn’t seem too difficult. The doctor went about the task in silence, placing a mug in front of the former musician and then sitting down in the chair across from him.

“Should we wait for Doug?” she asked.

“Why would we…?”

“Spare me, Greg,” the doctor replied, holding up a hand. “We both know that very rarely do you drop off Connie and come in for more than a hello when possible. And in light of the present situation…I’m sorry, by the way. Considering what you’re going through…”

Greg shook his head. “It’s fine,” he said. “And you’re right. I’m not just here for…tea and cookies, as it were.”

The two sat in silence for a few moments more until Doug came down. “Connie’s taking a shower,” he announced, grabbing a mug and pouring himself some coffee. Once the drink was in hand, he immediately pulled out the chair next to his wife and sat down. “Well…”

“Is there any way you’re here to make Connie stay?”

The question, though reasonably expected, still managed to catch Greg off guard. “If you mean stay the night,” he began, but was interrupted by Priyanka.

“I don't,” she said. “I mean stay for good. As in…as in, Connie will be staying with us while the Gems go and…do what they need to do to rescue Steven.”

“Priyanka,” Greg replied, seriously. “I think we both know that’s not going to happen.” He could tell it wasn’t at all what either parent wanted to hear, but they had probably seen it coming. “Connie and I were talking in the car,” he continued. “And…how much do you know, really know, about what happened between the Gems and Homeworld?”

“Nothing,” Doug said, before amending that statement. “Well, not nothing. We know as much as Connie does, but I guess Steven’s mother started a war?”

“That’s…a rather basic description,” Greg responded. “What happened was…”

And so Greg Universe began an abridged version of a thousand year war for the planet. Like Connie, there were things Greg didn’t know – he and Rose didn’t really dive into each other’s past, hence why she nor Steven were aware of his cousin Andy or that Greg’s real name was DeMayo – but he certainly knew more than Doug and Priyanka.

He couldn’t tell them about the oppressive regime that Homeworld thrived on, but Rose had given him enough clues for him to realize that Pearl had not always been the dreaded figure that had risen during the war and that Ruby and Sapphire would have never gotten together and Garnet would have merely been an unfortunate mistake.

So he left all of that out, instead telling the Indian couple the same thing he had once told Steven – Homeworld and the gems from there were basically destroying the Earth and it was something Rose couldn’t let happen; Rose started a rebellion with Pearl. And when other gems had wanted the same freedom that the planet seemed to afford, their small rebellion started a war.

And that’s when Priyanka asked the big question – when and _why_  the war started in the first place.

And Greg told her the truth – that the gem he loved had essentially murdered one of the matriarchs of Homeworld.

That single event had been what officially kicked off a literal civil war between gems – those who wanted to protect Earth and the ideals of being able to do what they wanted against those who wanted to avenge their Diamond’s death and kill the upstart gems who dared take the side of insignificant organic life over their own kind.

“Those gems,” Greg whispered. “The ones that took Steven…they’re like Jasper.”

“The gem that Connie fought in the Great North?” Doug asked.

Greg nodded. “Jasper fought in the war,” the musician continued. “Fought against Rose. So…whenever any gem from that time sees Steven…they think he’s Rose.”

“But why?” Priyanka asked confused. “To be honest, other than the…gem that replaces his navel, I’ve always thought Steven favored you in appearance.”

“Gems don’t have the same concepts of relationships the way we do,” the elder Universe explained. “Why do you think I was primarily responsible for raising Steven until he began to live with the Gems? They don’t have the foggiest idea of what family is – a mother, father, siblings – so when they see Steven, they don’t see ‘Rose’s son’, they just think Rose has shapeshifted into another form, a human form.

“And that’s Steven was counting on. He told them he was Rose Quartz, Homeworld’s most wanted war criminal, and that’s why he was taken.”

The Maheswarans were stunned. “Surely, he’ll be given a trial…?” Priyanka asked.

“Homeworld isn’t Earth,” Greg whispered. “For all I know, as soon as they get him off that ship, they’ll…” He let the sentence trail off, but the idea didn’t really need to be spoken. It seemed clear to the couple that the former musician was under the impression that his son would face the consequences most war criminals suffered.

Death.

The doctor was shaking her head. “I can’t believe that,” she murmured.

“Why not?”

Priyanka looked at the former musician. “Because there are _laws_ , Greg,” she protested. “Due process, the right to a fair trial, the right…”

“Priyanka,” Greg interrupted, holding up his hand. “I’m glad you have a semblance of morality here, but Homeworld is _not_ Earth.” Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. “When Blue Diamond kidnapped me a few months ago,” he stated. “I was put in the human zoo.”

“ _Human_ zoo?” Doug asked, his face going white at the prospect.

“Yeah,” Greg said. “It’s a zoo for humans, out in this distant facility that was started by Pink Diamond millennia ago. The difference however is that the zoo now is like a utopia, with the offspring of generations of humans that were originally taken there. They have no idea what life is like outside of that place.

“There’s this little voice that tells them when to wake up, when to eat, when to play, when to do anything. To look at it, you’d think the Diamonds were doing them a kindness, but what’s worse – being _in_ a prison or not being _aware_ that you’re in a prison?

“And then there was the Diamonds themselves,” he continued. “Steven told me they weren’t expecting anyone else until Blue Diamond walks through the door. The room we were in had hundreds, thousands of rose quartz gems just floating around in bubbles. The same gem my son has on his stomach and these were just floating above us – Yellow Diamond pretty much stated she wanted the whole lot destroyed and the Earth along with it because of what Rose did.

“Then…Ruby and Sapphire get ushered and…you should’ve seen it. This…being that I had made a connection with, a connection in grief and thank heavens she didn’t realize who I was talking about, but anyway. When that…big bad boss went in there and told her that Sapphire had come back from a mission Blue Diamond had no idea about…

“I’ve known the Gems for twenty years,” he said, looking at the couple across from him. “And while I haven’t hung out that much with Ruby and Sapphire, they still make up Garnet and I consider all three of them to be my friends. I’m telling you right now if Sapphire hadn’t been so quick on her feet, I wouldn’t be sitting here. Cause if she had said one wrong word, Blue Diamond or Yellow Diamond would’ve crushed them like we crush an ant.

“Sorry Doc,” he finished. “But you’re giving a lot of credit to beings that don’t adhere or even care about the human way of doing things. So no…I don’t see my son going through a Perry Fletcher sort of showing, if he gets that at all.”

It was a long story and didn’t even cover some of the more intricate things the gems themselves had faced. By the time Connie had come downstairs, Greg was in the middle of telling the couple the current plan for getting Steven back. The teen didn’t interrupt the discussion, only taking the last unoccupied chair that put her in-between her father and Greg.

Instead of chiming in, Connie instead decided to try and gauge her parents’ reaction – as a rather lonely child with her face constantly in a book, the teen had become an unassuming people watcher, observing those who passed by without giving her a second glance. Right off the bat, she could tell her father was a little more accepting and open to this than her mother was.

Their talk upstairs had proven her father, while worried and concerned, fully embraced his daughter and her sword fighting lifestyle (and those who were in it). She had seen the signs, but up until recently, she had been convinced he felt the same way her mother did – that this was, hopefully, just a phase and by some miracle within the next year or so, it would be over and they could go back to their regularly scheduled lives.

Connie had never realized her dad sometimes felt like he was in the shadow of her mother or even her. Maybe that’s why she had always been closer to him than Priyanka – she got her love of books from him, all the sci-fi, hard-boiled noir mysteries filled to the brim with adventures were from nights when he read to her before bedtime. It wasn’t to say Priya didn’t do the same thing, but Doug’s reenactments were always so lively, with voice changes and scenes acted out to showcase the action in the book.

One of these days, she might just introduce her father to Jamie the mailman to see what would happen.

That lead her to looking at her mother.

If anyone had been set against this whole thing, it was Priyanka. Before, Connie would’ve chalked it up to her not being able to meet the standards the doctor had set and that any deviation to those were not accepted. But after being confronted in the hospital by the gem experiments and having a much needed talk, the teen realized that this – all of this – was just outside of her mother’s own sense of realism.

If her mother had a hard time watching a satirical parody of a hospital setting in **Under the Knife** , then of course trying to wrap her head around aliens, gem mutants, and fusion was a tougher pill to swallow.

Priyanka was a woman of science, a woman of logic. If it existed, then there was a reason behind it and an explanation to that reasoning. Connie had come down during Greg’s speech about how Homeworld didn’t govern by the same laws Earth did and the very real possibility that they could be too late when they left for the alien system. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the very notion that Steven could be executed without so much as a confirmation of who he truly was had taken her aback.

Connie was well versed and well read, so knowing that there were countries around the world who differed in their laws and punishment wasn’t surprising; even after knowing what she did about gems in general and Homeworld, hearing what Greg was saying shouldn’t have been such a shock.

But it was.

She had seen it with her own eyes – how Jasper always called Steven by his mother’s name, how she had decided she would take her revenge on this seemingly shapeshifted version of Rose Quartz; she had heard the glee in Aquamarine’s voice at the prospect of just having the chance to kill one of them if it meant keeping the Gems at bay; and she had seen the surprise and pleasure on the blue bug’s face when Steven told her he was Rose Quartz.

She shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was. She was still caught off guard by the thought that Steven had just given himself up to die and that Homeworld would have no qualms about issuing that order.

Connie could tell her mother had been caught off herself – logic would dictate that a prisoner received the ability to prove their guilt or innocence, that there would be a trial, so to hear that, no, Homeworld gems and society don’t work that way was displeasing. And the teen couldn’t help but wonder if Greg had even mentioned the original role of the gems – about Pearl or Ruby and Sapphire or Amethyst…

Somehow, she doubted it. She knew Pearl and Amethyst had been a little wary of her when Steven mentioned their past to her; Pearl had even stated she hadn’t wanted Connie to think or view her differently. The teen, of course, didn’t – if anything, she held the two in _higher_ regard and respect afterwards. And while she thought her parents would as well, her mother’s sense of justice might override any sense of tact.

Greg pushed back and stood, stretching his arms over his head. “Whelp…” he began. “I think I’ll head out. Wanna go and check on Vidalia and the Millers, make sure they’re doing okay.” Giving Connie’s shoulder a squeeze, he asked, “You okay here?”

Priyanka couldn’t stop the way her spine stiffed at the question. Did Greg – or worse, Connie – seriously think she wouldn’t be safe in her own home? Or did her daughter not even consider this her home any longer?

Connie nodded, not seeing her mother’s reaction. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll probably hang around here for a bit.”

“Okay,” the elder man replied. “Gimme a call if you wanna head back. And either Pearl or I will call you when everyone’s ready to move out.”

Again, the teen nodded, the appreciation of notification clearly on her face. Greg waved the security guard back, indicating that he’d see himself out and left the little family sitting around the table. Priyanka didn’t seem to be taking things well, so Connie had to ask.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

The doctor sighed before shaking her head. “It’s a lot to take in,” she whispered. “Up until now, from what you explained, it just seemed…it just seemed like a few corruptions? Is that what you called them?”

“Corrupted gems,” Connie corrected. “But yeah.”

“Right,” she said. “Did you know? About this…zoo for humans? About…a war that lasted on this planet for a thousand years?”

Connie nodded. “I knew,” she whispered. “Steven tells me everything. Usually, most of the time. There’s…there are a couple of things Mr. Universe didn’t say though.”

“Such as?” Doug asked.

“Like…how gems are treated on Homeworld,” she stated. “Some better than others.”

“You mean like Garnet?” Priya asked. “Because of her being a fusion?”

“Exactly,” the teen replied, giving her mother a smile. “Ruby and Sapphire would have _never_ been allowed to stay as Garnet, much less be able to stay together as they have.”

Doug nodded. “Ruby mentioned that,” he said. “She said she would’ve been shattered because of fusing with Sapphire. I can only imagine what that would mean.”

“She would’ve been killed, Dad,” Connie stated. “They _both_ would’ve been killed.”

“Humanity has always prided themselves on rising above the atrocities suffered by others,” Priya murmured. “Our past isn’t clear, quite the opposite – we’ve enslaved people against their will, subjected whole communities to live by the way of others, choose who they would marry and when; as a doctor, I sometimes see the worst of people.

“Parents who hurt their children, children who hurt their parents, strangers who hurt strangers for something as stupid as to how they look, dress, or talk. I always like to think the best of us and other cultures, only to find out that there are beings who not only don’t learn from previous mistakes, but refuse to even see the mistakes in the first place.”

Looking at Connie, she said, “I had always hoped my child would never see any of that ugliness.”

“You can’t protect me from the world forever, Mom.”

The doctor gave a humorless chuckle. “It’s not _our_ world I want to protect you from,” she admitted. “One child has been taken because these people think he’s his mother, bestowing on him every wrong thing they view her doing onto him. And my child is about to step into that situation in order to save him.”

“The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the few,” Connie quoted.

“Or the many,” her father finished, causing the girl to smile at him.

Priya shook her head. “I can only guess that’s a reference only the two of you understand,” she muttered, but she did quirk her lips into a smile. Connie’s love of all things fantastical and magical came from Doug and was one of the things that made the doctor fall in love with him in the first place.

“I know we can’t talk you out of this,” she replied. “But can we at least spend this time with our daughter, the smart, funny thirteen year old and not the sword fighting warrior?”

The statement wasn’t meant to offend, Connie realized, just her mother wanting to go back to a time where logic and reality were firmly in play. Nodding, the teen decided she would give her parents that and more. She was going to bring Steven home and survive with everything and everyone intact.

She guaranteed it.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks.

Fourteen days, six hours, and twelve minutes to be exact. That was how long it had taken the combined efforts of Pearl and Peridot to reconstruct the green gem’s hand ship. Peridot had taken the lead on the project, considering she was already familiar with the ship and its technology, but also because it gave her an added excuse to flex her proverbial ferrokinesis muscles.

If this had been any of project, it would’ve been a great display of her abilities with metal, bending it to fit the areas they needed and form the way she wanted; while she was able to do it – and impressed Pearl while doing so – it was a bittersweet endevour. She couldn’t help but think that Steven would’ve been in the outer orbit of Earth and circling over its connected moon with her display.

But Steven wasn’t there and that’s what made her push this work to its completion.

And they had done it. By the afternoon of the fourteenth day, she and Pearl had put on the finishing touches on the ship and had deemed it passable for flight. All members of the Universe and Universe Universal Space Travel – or 3UST, sufficiently renamed by both Greg and Connie – were gathered around the structure, seemingly surprised and happy that this even worked.

But, as with anything that seems too good to be true, there was a catch.

“What’s the catch?” Amethyst asked, seeing the looks Pearl and Peridot were giving each other at the praise.

“Catch?” Peridot asked, confused.

“She means what’re are the unmentioned complications of what we’re telling them about the ship,” Pearl explained. “Which…there is.”

The group looked at the two engineers expectedly.

“So,” Peridot began. “If we leave, today, we will be able to reach Homeworld in a matter of hours, with no foreseen difficulties or restrictions.”

“So what’s the catch?” the purple gem asked again.

Pearl sighed, after exchanging another look with Peridot. “Getting to Homeworld isn’t a problem,” she replied. “It’s coming back that’s the problem. Neither Peridot or I can guarantee the structural integrity of the ship for the voyage back.”

“So what?” Amethyst insisted. “We got like, a hundred percent guarantee there and what? A fifty-fifty chance coming back?”

“More like twenty-eighty,” Peridot murmured, before realizing she had said that out loud.

“You mean once we find and rescue Steven,” Connie said. “We might not be able to come back?”

“We didn’t say that,” Pearl stated.

“It kinda sounds like you did,” Lapis retorted.

“We said we wouldn’t be able to come back in _this_ ship,” Peridot explained. “We’ll come back, just not in this hunk of junk.”

“In another ship?” the terraformer asked, incredulously. “Where’re we going to get another ship?”

Garnet shrugged. “We’ll just have to take one.”

“Oh right, of course,” Lapis retorted. “Cause that makes perfect sense. We’ll just walk right on up and ask to steal a ship. From Homeworld. Yeah, I can’t see _that_ going wrong.”

“You’re bringing down our vibe, dude,” Amethyst complained. “And it’s called ‘a challenge’. Don’t you watch TV?”

“Alright Gems,” Garnet announced, bringing whatever further discussion on the matter to an end. “We move today. Time is against us, so if there’s anything you need to do before we leave, do it now. You have an hour.”

The group nodded their understanding and went off their separate ways. Peridot managed to snag Garnet into some secret discussion – which was mostly about whether she had time for one, maybe two episodes of CPH – while Lapis withdrew her wings and flew off towards the growing vegetable habitat they formed.

Though Greg wasn’t going along, he was still there to hear the announcement and he had plans on being there to watch them take off. So he had no problems on giving Amethyst, Connie, and strangely Pearl a ride back to Beach City – Amethyst wanted to pick up donuts for their adventure and she had naturally pegged the teen to go with her, while Greg and Pearl drove back to the car wash.

On instinct, as soon as the van had stopped, Greg was holding out the keys to his prized Dondai to the thinner gem, but was surprised when she waved him off. “You sure?” he asked, rising an eyebrow at her.

Sighing, Pearl shook her head. “I want to,” she whispered. “I do, but…I’m afraid if I see her I won’t want to leave.”

Greg nodded with understanding. He took the dangling keys and put them back in his pocket. “Sometimes a phone call is easier,” he responded, giving Pearl a look.

Sending the musician a smile, Pearl reached into her gem and retrieved her mobile communication device. She had a call to make.

 

* * *

 

This was it.

Everything they had planned and wanted, after two weeks, was finally here. Yes, the prospect of their inability to not return was at the forefront of their minds, but if they could manage to reach Homeworld and save Steven, it would worth it and they could cross that bridge when they got there.

As the only person not going on this rescue mission, Greg Universe was going to have a lot on his shoulders, starting with watching over the little pumpkin pet Lapis and Peridot were leaving behind. “You promise you’ll watch her?” Peridot asked, worriedly looking down at the little sad creature.

“Don’t worry,” Greg replied. “I’ll take her with me to the beach house and let her run around.”

“She doesn’t really eat,” Peridot continued. “But she does like a treat of corn. Really loves corn.”

“I got it.”

“And she likes water,” Lapis stated. “But clean water. Don’t let her drink from the ocean or a bucket or something.” Greg went to answer, but the blue gem beat him to it. “And you have to talk her. Tell her she’s a good pumpkin. And a pretty pumpkin and…”

The blue gem stopped when she noticed the looks Greg, Peridot, and the other gems were giving her.

“I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“That’s probably enough,” Lapis nodded.

The two barnmates each gave the little pumpkin hugs goodbye before heading into the ship. Connie was the next to follow, however she stopped when a sudden realization came over. “Wait,” she said. “Should we _all_ be going? I mean, who’ll protect Beach City in case of a corrupted gem or something?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Greg replied. “I got this. And if I’m lucky, I can get Sadie to back me up. I hear she’s pretty mean with a stick.”

“But…”

“Chillax, Connie Warrior Princess,” Amethyst replied, shooing the teenager into the ship. “Gregory knows what to do when he sees a corrupted gem.” Looking over her shoulder, the purple gem couldn’t help but ask, “You do, don’t you?”

“Yes,” the elder man groaned, holding out the ‘s’ in the word like a disgruntled teenager.

“None the less,” Pearl said, removing a long, cylindrical object from her gem and holding it out for Greg to take. He immediately recognized it as a warp whistle, possibly the same one he had been given years ago when he broken his leg. After that debacle, Greg was sure the Gems would never trust him with any type of gem artifact again; that in itself had been a hard blow.

After years of wanting to prove himself and wanting to learn more about the people that had been friends to the gem he loved and were raising his son, he had gotten his chance when he’d been able to correctly broadcast Lapis’ message to Steven from Homeworld. But only _after_ he had completely and utterly screwed up by abusing not only the warp whistle, but Steven’s healing powers.

“You remember how to use this?”

Greg nodded, suddenly overcome. Connie made a good point – with all of the Crystal Gems off planet, there would be nothing to stand in the way of some corrupted gem from coming out of the water and destroying the town.

Well…other than the actual people in the town.

If Greg so chose, he could evacuate the city using the warp whistle, hopefully to someplace he was familiar with, and when he deemed it safe, he could bring them back. Or he could take on whatever arrived by himself. Maybe.

Possibly.

“If anything happens, Greg…”

“I know,” he interrupted, gripping the whistle tightly. “I won’t let you down.”

“We know you won’t,” Garnet said.

“Just…” the man stumbled. “Just be careful.”

“Greg, don’t worry, dude,” Amethyst piped up. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Well I hope so,” Greg chuckled. “Or else I really _am_ gonna run fresh out of family.”

For the twenty years they had known each, no one could ever remember hearing the elder Universe saying something so…heartfelt. For so long, the Gems had assumed Greg’s friendliness towards them was a byproduct of his relationship with Rose or his connection to Steven.

Never before had the three heard the former musician reveal the true depths of his feelings for them, that like Steven, they had become his family too.

“Ugh,” Amethyst complained. Her actions belied her words however because she nearly all but tackled Greg around his waist. “Ya big sap.”

The words had been a surprise to Greg, too – it had been a growing feeling for quite some time, though he wasn’t sure when he had stopped thinking of the Gems as Rose’s friends to Steven’s co-guardians to members of their family. But the point of the matter was that it had happened and Greg’s statement was true. Yes, there was still his cousin Andy, but there were too many years between them now and he knew Andy wouldn’t understand half of what was happening.

Amethyst released him, though not without a pain twist to his side. “Dork,” she huffed, turning away and heading towards the ship’s entrance.

“Brat,” came his retort. She really was like the bratty little sister he hadn’t known he wanted. He had once threatened, in glorious big brother fashion, to sell her to the circus, only for her to have a ready list of circuses she’d want to be in.

“Keep an eye on Beach City for us,” Garnet said.

“I will,” he nodded. “Both eyes, even outside of the city.” The last remark had been for Pearl’s benefit, which did cause her to blush slightly. He of course would make a point to check in at the barn and call the Maheswarans if just to let them know they had another parent to commiserate with, but it went unsaid that the musician had no issues making sure Pearl’s ‘mystery girl’ would be okay.

“Stay safe,” Pearl said, giving him a grateful smile.

Meeting it, he replied, “You too. Bring our son home.”

It would’ve been one thing to learn Greg’s feelings about them, but to know that he not only trusted them, but viewed them just as much Steven’s parents as he was…well. The relationship between the Crystal Gems and Greg Universe had been tenuous at best, hostile at worst – for a long time, he had just been the human Rose hung around with and for a time, the human who took Rose away.

There were so many decisions they – Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst – second guessed on themselves when it came to Steven; too human to be quite gem, too gem to be quite human. It was Steven who made them interact with humanity, something Amethyst found easier to do than the older two gems. Garnet and Pearl had always worked on a premise of doing what they thought was right for Rose’s son.

And somewhere along the lines, it changed to doing what was right for Steven. It was possible their confusion, misunderstanding, and perhaps hubris on their part that had led the fourteen year old to think along the first lines.

If this was another time, they might have time to think and discuss how they got to this point and there would be one, where everyone was together to do so, but not now. Looking at Greg directly, Garnet said, “We won’t leave Homeworld without him.”

The two remaining gems nodded their goodbyes before embarking inside the ship, a place that hadn’t been in for almost three years. Before, they had been prisoners, headed to Homeworld to be judged for their crimes; now, they were going to use this ship to get to Homeworld and save Steven.

Being built in hurry, Peridot hadn’t been able to make as many modifications as she had wanted, such as changing the color scheme from the harsh green and yellow to something more soothing, like blue or purple or something, but she and Pearl had managed to make the bridge a little more accessible.

Resembling the bigger than expected example of the ruby ship, the two engineers had placed additional chairs at the front and on the sides – while a ship like this could easily be piloted by one person, the two gems had separated parts of the navigation to be spread across for two pilots, with a third set of controls in the case they needed help. The split of resources meant that they could have extra eyes on controls in case the worst possible outcome came to pass.

Both Pearl and Peridot sat at the head of ship, if one could call it that, with Peridot in the captain’s seat and Pearl to her right as co-pilot. There was a lot of reconstruction involved, seeing as the hand ship was more or less a palm ship at this point; only the thumb portion remained fully intact, while the rest of the fingers had either sheared off or broke off during its initial crash.

That meant a lot of wiring and electronics had to be rewired and reworked into something that could make the ship fly again.

The two pilots set about the takeoff checklist, making sure they calibrated, calculated, and examined every process. They felt the ship lift off slowly before picking up speed and blasting its way from the planet below through its atmosphere. For all their concerns about the ship being able to fly, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

“Good day, fellow travelers!” Peridot announced, coming over the ship’s intercom. “This is your captain speaking.”

Lapis looked at her ‘fellow travelers’. “You gave her an intercom?” she asked.

“It was a compromise over other…unnecessary additions,” Garnet replied.

“Hey in my defense,” Amethyst began. “That disco ball would’ve been awesome.”

The others just looked at her.

“I can’t lie,” Connie replied. “That does sound awesome.”

“Ahem,” their captain said. “Your captain is trying to tell you important information.”

The others turned.

“Peridot,” Connie stated. “We’re literally like two feet away from you.”

Said captain turned in her chair, facing the four to her left. Holding up the intercom handset, she pushed the button on the side.

“I know that.”

Turning back towards the front, she resumed her announcement and flight control. “Our flight today to Homeworld will take approximately seven hours,” she continued. “So sit back and enjoy the sounds of a musical playlist of soothing Earth sounds that I, your loveable captain, have put together.”

Peridot’s voice was immediately replaced with some jaunty music that both Connie and Amethyst recognized as ‘elevator’ music.

“I want you all to know,” Amethyst replied, haughtily. “I totally suggested an inflight movie, but Garnet nixed it.”

“That is a lie,” the fusion said. “I objected to the movie itself, being played on a loop for seven hours. I love Steven and I miss him, but I am not quite at the point of missing him enough to watch Crying Breakfast Friends for seven hours on repeat.”

“Well,” the teen said. “Luckily I bought a board game in the case we got bored. So…anyone want to play Venus Terraformer?”


End file.
